1. Technical Field
The present invention relates generally to an apparatus and method for processing media in a convergence media service platform and, more particularly, to an apparatus and method for processing media in a convergence media service platform, which provide convergence media into which one or more sensory effects have been inserted based on media and user interaction feedback.
2. Description of the Related Art
A convergence media service is a service that adds one or more sensory effects to conventional media including audio and video and then provides convergence media to a user. That is, a convergence media service is capable of providing one or more sensory effects, such as lighting, a smell, vibrations, and/or the like, to a user while media is being played back. An example of conventional convergence media service-related technology is a technology for creating single ne-media by adding sensory effect metadata to single media, which is disclosed in the paper “Architecture of the SMMD Media Service System,” E-ACTIVITES, 2007. Single ne-media is authored in the form of a single file and then stored in a home server. The home server reads the ne-media file, extracts sensory effect metadata, and controls devices for providing sensory effects in synchronization with media, thereby maximizing the sensory effects.
Furthermore, Korean Patent Application Publication No. 10-2008-0016393 (entitled “SMMD-based Ubiquitous Home Media Service Apparatus and Method and Home Media Service System and Method using the Same” and published on Feb. 21, 2008) discloses an SMMD-based ubiquitous home media service apparatus and method, which create media having a new structure (ne-media) that enable device control and synchronization information to be added to existing media, including moving video, audio and text, in order to provide a sensory service. Sensory effect representation information suitable for one's personal preferences and a surrounding device environment is input to the created ne-media and then the ne-media is sent to surrounding devices, so that surrounding devices having a variety of functions can be autonomously converged via the ne-media regardless of the physical location of a user, such as a home, an office or a public area, and provide a sensory media service to the user.
However, the conventional convergence media service-related technologies are problematic in that a separate authoring tool is required to add sensory effects desired by an author to previously created media. That is, in the conventional technologies, an author should author convergence media in which media and sensory effects have been converged by using a separate authoring tool, fetching media, manually adding sensory effects to the media, and directly inputting the attributes of the sensory effects (the types, locations, directions, intensities and values of the sensory effects), so that the conventional convergence media service-related technologies are problematic in that it takes an excessively long time to create convergence media.
Furthermore, in the conventional convergence media service-related technologies, a representation system is used to parse and analyze ne-media created by the authoring tool, perform mapping to one or more devices, create device control instructions, synchronize the devices, and control the devices. Accordingly, the conventional convergence media service-related technologies are problematic in that insufficient sensory effects are provided because only preset sensory effects are provided and thus user interactions cannot be incorporated into the sensory effects.